Every once in a long while I come across a book or a song or a movie and I’m struck by a sense of panic at having lived so long without it. Of course I’m thrilled to have discovered it, but I also feel like I’ve somehow wasted so much time living in oblivion to something that is so fantastic and meaningful. This happened when I first read Bret Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero.
I first read Less Than Zero shortly after college. I, like Ellis himself and his protagonist Clay, left Los Angeles for a small college back East. I understood what Ellis meant when he opened his novel with the line, “People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles.”
Ellis, with his frequent use of brand names and song lyrics, so perfectly captures a very specific time and place – Los Angeles in the 80s. But the characters within the book reach so much further than their small world of sex, drugs, and privilege. Less Than Zero so honestly captures the real and, perhaps, universal feeling of going back home and realizing that nothing will ever be the same.
Ellis tells this story through a brutally honest portrayal of rich college-aged kids who basically fuck around, sleep around, spend lots of money, and snort cocaine. Despite this, Ellis manages to make his characters easy-to-relate to and likeable as they wander through their empty existences.
I’ve since read most of Ellis’ body of work. He often connects his novels by repeating lines and borrowing characters, which provides for an interesting and intertwined reading experience. Several of his novels have been made into killer movies including Less Than Zero (starring Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey, Jr.) and most recently The Informers (Billy Bob Thorton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Brad Renfro, Mickey Rourke) in 2008.
Have you read Less Than Zero? Seen the movie? What did you think?
One fateful day about a year ago I was reading various posts on Twitter and doing my annual “Buy a lot of books on Amazon for summer break” ritual. Now I don’t really trust Amazon recommendations, I’d rather get them from real people so when Emmy Rossum (star of The Phantom Of The Opera movie) tweeted that she was outside reading I quickly @ replied asking for book suggestions. Much to my surprise she direct messaged me back with two books, one of which was Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam.
Thanks Publisher's Weekly for the image!
I added it to my cart and it was the first book I read when the shipment came in. Needless to say I was not disappointed, while it isn’t your normal memoir per say. When I think memoir I think one beg FML moment after another, and while Klam’s story definitely has its hardships, they’re not of the teen pregnancy, poverty, AIDS variety. Which I think is why I loved the book so much, Julie’s main struggle was the same as all of us, yeah, I’m talking to you readers. Klam was just trying to figure out what to do with her life.
As I approach my college graduation I’m at the very same crossroad she was, with no idea what I’m going to do when my 4 years here run out. The memoir gives subtle advice with some laugh out loud humor to boot. At several points throughout the book I literally had to set it down to get control of my giggling. I don’t want to ruin anything but let’s just say the book has sketchy characters, pop up videos, and retirement communities. What’s not to love?! So if you’re like me and have no idea where to go or what to do at this point in your life, pick up a copy of this book and let Klam’s wit get you pointed in the right direction.
And if that wasn’t enough I found Julie on Twitter and she’s just as genuine and awesome on there as she is in her memoir. She’s a Twitter fiend that will respond to any and all ridiculous fan questions. Alright, enough of me being a little fan girl, just go pick up Please Excuse My Daughter and discover it’s awesomeness for yourselves.
Have you read Please Excuse my Daughter? Ever had a celeb tweet you a rec? Share with us!
When I was a child, I learned about novels as a series of enticing events and conflicts. There was always a conflict, always a choice, and always some message or surprise that gave the entire plot-line a purpose. Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead, has all of those things; it is the story of two young, aspiring architects set against the backdrop of 1920s New York. Both men are talented, motivated, and intriguing – but like most things, the beauty lies in the contrast between them.
The Fountainhead
Keating is society’s ideal, trained by masters of architecture and enveloped in a world of affluence and power. Roark, on the other hand, is by many standards unlikable. He is stubborn, blunt, and answers only to his own standards of greatness. It doesn’t take a clairvoyant to sense that the conflict between these men and their worlds lies at the heart of The Fountainhead…but it does take more than simple common sense to predict exactly what form that conflict will take.
There are no wars fit for cinematic greatness, and no unbelievable acts of fate in this book. In fact, the amazing thing about The Fountainhead is that every moment sandwiched between its pages is astoundingly typical. Men find and lose jobs, they wake up in the morning, complete routine tasks, and return to sleep. They speak with family. They find relationships. Eventually, they find something resembling love. Rand’s characters live lives much like our own – sometimes boring, and often stressful.
The beauty of this mediocrity is that it allows Rand to turn her attention away from dates and events, and focus instead on the people navigating them. I have never in my life come across such complex fictional characters as I have found in Howard, Peter, and their companions. They are so multifaceted and unpredictable, that I often find myself putting the novel down just to examine them in my head. Few people would argue that a good book makes you think, but I would argue that the best book makes you think about mundane things that you experience thousands of times each day.
This is such a book. It is a statement on humanity and a photograph of life at the same time. It is not so much a story as an experience. And it is an experience that I sincerely hope you get to have.
Have you read The Fountainhead?Did you love it as much as Ais did?
Like so many of our contributors, I had a difficult time picking just one book to feature for our theme week! The more I thought about books I love, the more I realized how inaccessible some of them had become. I tend to read either old school science fiction, epic fantasy or literary classics. It’s high time that I stepped beyond these genres into something hip.
Thank you Book Cover Archive for the image!
I found Sum on a shelf at Barnes & Noble, listed as a hot new read. The concept intrigued me: the author, David Eagleman, is a neuro-scientist who envisions forty different after lives. The back cover promises that it will illicit an array of emotions – which it does. Though each vignette is only two to three pages long, I often had to put the book down just to go “Wow!”
Some of the after lives made me laugh, one made me cry. One of the most thought provoking is available to read on Eagleman’s website. This story, “Descent of Species“, will make you wonder if it is, indeed, ever possible to out-fox the universe.
Of course, since this book deals with different versions of heaven, it should not be approached lightly. If you have strong opinions about the after-life, this book might not be for you. It will make you stop and think. It certainly made me question my thoughts about what happens after we die! And the best part about the book is that Eagleman doesn’t present one as the absolute truth. These are conjecture, mixed with a bit of fantasy.
Truly an impressive, involving read which I plan to re-read as often as I can!
Have you read Sum? Other books about the after life?
And remember when I said PostSecret reads my mind?
I am not kidding. It happened again:
I never got the chance to meet Mickey or his friends when I went to Disneyland last summer, but the next time I go, I am totally not leaving until I get to give all of them a huge hug. What? It’s not just the kiddies who think they’re fabyuhluhs.
Which was your favourite secret on PostSecret this week?
As a writer and English major, I always get asked the questions, “What’s your favorite book?” and “Who’s your favorite author?” I never know how to answer them because, first of all, do I really have to choose just one? And second of all, my favorite “classical” book is very different from my favorite YA novel or my favorite contemporary author. These are all the things I have to consider.
In considering this, I suppose I do have one all-time favorite book, though it falls under the favorite “classic” category and thus usually gets mentioned first with a back-up (Harry Potter, author Jhumpa Lahiri, The Hunger Games) as the more contemporary answer. Really, I guess you could say I’m well-rounded in my reading, so it’s hard to choose a single favorite.
In high school, I don’t truly remember enjoying reading anything I had to because everything that was considered great literature, to me, was boring. That is, until my sophomore year English teacher suggested an author, and a book, to me, and I fell in love with it.
The House of Mirth
That book is Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, the tragic and beautiful story of Lily Bart, a young woman of marriageable age, practically “on the shelf” with little money, and the tendency to make social faux pas, who lives in the time when the necessity of finding a husband and settling into a certain social status was all that mattered.
I love historical fiction. And I love great prose and writing as well. While this is historical fiction for us today, at the time of Wharton’s writing it, it was reality. It shows the gritty life this woman lived in. It captures society and all its constrictions and mannerisms perfectly. Wharton knew enough about life and living to bring it out in her books. And unlike her contemporary and friend Henry James (of who’s writing I always find seriously boring), her writing style and tone is engaging and enjoyable.
Sometimes I say that Edith Wharton is my favorite author, but that isn’t being honest. I have read a couple other books by her, but none of have struck a chord with me as much as The House of Mirth. I have written papers on the book and Wharton’s life. I have dug deeper into The House of Mirth and its text than I have with an other book I’ve read, even ones for school. I am fascinated by it every time I read it, even though I already know how it’s going to turn out.
Have you read The House of Mirth?Did you enjoy it as much as Sarah?
In early November, we had our very first theme week here on Every Girl Blog. A number of us posted articles about our hometown and what makes it so incredible and awesome. Well, the theme week is back, with a whole new topic to rock your socks. This time around, we’re giving you a look at our favorite books!
Starting tomorrow, February 2nd, you can expect an article a day talking about the books that we think are the absolute definition of awesome. It’s your responsibility to hit each article up with a ton of comments. If you’ve read the book before, tell us what you thought about it! Who was your favorite character? What do you think the author could have done to make the book better? Haven’t read it? Let us know if it reminds you of any books, or tell us anything you’d like! Just remember, no spoilers.
May all of these books end up on your bookshelf, ladies!
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